societal attitudes
Public opinion trends
Societal attitudes are the collective beliefs, opinions, and feelings that a society holds toward particular groups, behaviors, or issues.
These attitudes shape laws, customs, and everyday interactions: Societal attitudes toward mental illness have shifted dramatically.
The phrase often appears in discussions of social change: Changing societal attitudes made the reform possible.
Distinguished from individual attitudes by their broad, often unexamined cultural prevalence.
- public opinionSociety's shared attitudes
- silent majorityPresumed moderate, publicly mute multitude
- taboosSocially proscribed practices
- biasUnfair inclination or prejudice
- traditionCustom passed through generations
old fashioned · conformity · morality · political correctness · propaganda · acceptance · prejudice · zeitgeist · culture war · stigma · ethics · groupthink · ideology · moral panic · socialization · collective consciousness · empathy · normalization
- Alcoholismalcoholism, alcoholic, alcohol abuse, alcohol addiction, alcohol dependence
- LGBTQ+ rightsgay rights, equal rights, lesbian rights, transgender rights, LGBTQ+ rights
- senior intimacyintimacy, sexual health, senior dating, emotional intimacy, sexual wellness
societal attitudescodified laws
Formally recorded legal rules
legal mandates · government decrees · constitutional provisions